Expensive, noisy and delayed – but is the Army’s new fighting vehicle any good?
Expensive, noisy and eight years late, but the British Army finally has a new armoured fighting vehicle that troops could deploy to Ukraine in the event of any peace deal.
The nearly £10m Ajax – weighing more than 40 tonnes – is as heavy as a Russian tank and potentially vulnerable to cheap Russian drones.
Yet it is being billed by the UK as a “next generation” fighting machine, equipped with cameras, protective armour and a 40mm gun, with bullets that can rip through concrete.
Luke Pollard, the defence procurement minister, talked up the fleet’s potential while acknowledging that the £5.5bn procurement has had its issues.
This includes excessive noise and vibrations coming from the vehicles that left 17 soldiers requiring treatment for hearing loss.
“It is an incredible platform. It has got the ability to perform tasks that its predecessors could not,” the minister said, having just gone for a spin in an Ajax during a visit to a General Dynamics factory in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, where the vehicles are being assembled.
“After all the problems it may have had in the past, we have put those to bed now.”
Luke Pollard says issues with the Ajax have been ‘put to bed’
The Ministry of Defence on Thursday declared what is known as initial operating capability for Ajax has been met.
It defined this as the ability to deploy a squadron of 27 vehicles on operations from a pool of 50. The total number of delivered Ajax vehicles is 165.
They come in six variants, with the main type designed for reconnaissance and fighting.
The army has ordered a total of 589 of the various models, which it expects to receive by 2030.
The Ajax was demonstrated during this year’s British Army Expo. Pic: PA
Launched more than a decade and a half ago, the Ajax programme was meant to achieve its initial operating milestone in 2017, but this date has been repeatedly pushed back.
The most serious delay occurred when testing was paused after soldiers suffered hearing and other injuries because of loud noise and vibrations coming from the vehicles.
It is why anyone who uses Ajax today must wear specially secured hearing protection.
Pic: Ministry of Defence
So, what’s it like?
Sky News was among a group of journalists that were invited to ride around on one of the vehicles at a test track on the factory grounds.
The vehicle is very loud – though soldiers said this would not impact its ability to conduct its primary mission of reconnaissance.
They said Ajax is fitted with clever cameras and sensors that can spot a target up to five miles (eight kilometres) away.
However, there is clearly the potential for enemy drones to detect the Ajax in return if it were pushing towards enemy territory in a warzone like Ukraine.
The vehicle’s armour is designed to protect against such a threat. But officials said the fleet has yet to be fitted with electronic countermeasures, even though this kind of equipment is fundamental for any operation in Ukraine to help jam enemy drones.
Pic: Ministry of Defence
When could it be deployed to Ukraine?
The UK, France and a coalition of more than 30 allies have pledged to deploy to Ukraine to help secure the peace if Kyiv and Moscow agree to some kind of ceasefire – a goal Donald Trump has been trying to achieve, but one that seems vanishingly unlikely for now.
However, Mr Pollard signalled that Ajax could be in the mix of any British offering to the mission.
“We’re not yet setting out precisely what capabilities we would deploy to Ukraine in the event of peace, largely because we don’t know when that peace will come, and we keep our military units at a state of readiness, and we rotate through them,” he told Sky News.
“But when we have the ability to deploy incredibly capable platforms like Ajax and the brilliant men and women trained to use it to its fullest effect.
“There’s a clear opportunity for us to be able to enhance NATO’s capabilities on the eastern flank and any coalition of the willing deployment potentially in the future.”
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Lance Corporal of Horse Andrew Rawlinson, 32, of the Household Cavalry Regiment, who is an Ajax commander, said he would be happy to deploy to Ukraine if asked.
“The squadron that I work in, they’re all good to go,” he said.
Lance Corporal Andrew Rawlinson says his squadron are ‘all good to go’ with the Ajax
“We’ve been training on it now non-stop pretty much for a good two years to get to the IOC [initial operating capability] level and I think everyone’s content, knows their jobs and would be happy to roll out.”
Asked whether Russia should be worried, he said: “Yeah, sure.”
Storm Bram has been named by the Irish weather service – with warnings for strong winds and heavy rain issued for parts of the UK and Ireland.
More than half a month’s rainfall could hit some parts of the UK in just a 24-hour period, the Met Office has warned.
Parts of Scotland are also facing a “danger to life” warning due to the “very strong” winds on Tuesday.
Yellow and orange warnings are in place across Ireland today and tomorrow, with “very strong to gale force” winds forecast on Tuesday.
Check the forecast for your area
The Met Office said strong winds forecast from Monday evening through until Wednesday could cause disruption, with gusts of 50-60mph predicted widely and 70-80mph in some places.
A yellow weather warning for rain comes into force from 6pm on Monday, and will be in place until 2pm on Tuesday, covering parts of southwest England and Wales, and stretching to parts of Herefordshire and Hampshire.
The Met Office has also issued a yellow warning for high winds from Dorset to Cornwall and up to north Wales, in place from 10pm on Monday until 4pm on Tuesday.
It said transport networks could face disruption, with delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges, and coastal roads and seafronts affected by spray and large waves. Power outages are also possible.
For 24 hours from 6pm on Monday, up to 40mm of rain could fall in some areas, with 60-80mm of rain over Dartmoor and high ground in South Wales, which would amount to more than half the average monthly rainfall in December.
The predicted rainfall across southwest England and South Wales is expected to hit already saturated ground and could lead to difficult travel conditions.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for northwest Scotland on Tuesday, from 4pm until the end of the day.
Flying debris “could result in a danger to life” – and there could be damage to buildings and homes along with the risk of roofs being “blown off” due to the “very strong and disruptive winds”, the Met Office warned.
Forecasters added there was the potential for large waves and beach material “being thrown” across sea fronts, roads and properties.
There are also further yellow warnings for wind and rain on Tuesday across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and northern England.
Weather warnings issued for Tuesday. Pic: Met Office
Yellow warnings for wind have been issued for Scotland and parts of northern England on Wednesday.
The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist, Steven Keates, said: “A deepening area of low pressure will approach the UK from the southwest later on Monday, bringing with it heavy rain and strong winds, which are likely to affect the UK between late Monday and early Wednesday.
“The exact track, depth and timings of this low are uncertain, which makes it harder to determine where will be most impacted by strong winds and/or heavy rain.
“This system has the potential to cause disruption, and severe weather warnings are likely to be issued over the weekend as details become clearer. We therefore urge people to keep up-to-date with the latest Met Office forecast.”
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Sky News meteorologist Dr Christopher England warned many areas could face disruption from “damaging gusts”.
“There could also be ferry disruption and that even outside the warning areas, potentially damaging gusts of over 50mph are possible,” he said.
“It only takes one tree falling in the wrong place at the wrong time to have a significant impact.”
The Met Office said the rest of the month remained unsettled, with further periods of low pressure predicted.
It said it is too early to provide an accurate forecast for the Christmas period.
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